Hull assembly for a watercraft having an acoustic panel and watercraft having same

A watercraft comprising:

• a deck;
• a hull supporting the deck, the hull at least partly defining an engine compartment, the engine compartment having an engine compartment length measured along a longitudinal direction of the watercraft;
• an engine assembly comprising at least an internal combustion engine, the engine assembly being disposed in the engine compartment, the engine having an engine length measured along the longitudinal direction of the watercraft, the engine length being less than half of the engine compartment length;
• a drive system connected to the hull and configured for propelling the watercraft, the drive system being operatively connected to the engine in order to be powered by the engine;
• and
• at least one acoustic panel disposed in the engine compartment to partially divide the engine compartment into a plurality of sub-compartments in communication with one another, the at least one acoustic panel extending generally perpendicular to a longitudinal centerplane of the watercraft, and the at least one acoustic panel being connected to the hull with an upper portion of the at least one acoustic panel being connected to a connecting portion of the watercraft in order to hang the at least one acoustic panel from the connecting portion, and
• wherein, in a vertical plane perpendicular to the longitudinal centerplane and extending through the at least one acoustic panel:
• the at least one acoustic panel occupies part of a cross-sectional area of the engine compartment;
• a projection of the engine assembly on the vertical plane defines an engine assembly cross-sectional area;
• and
• the part of the cross-sectional area of the engine compartment that is occupied by the at least one acoustic panel corresponds to at least a majority of the cross-sectional area of the engine compartment that is not occupied by the engine assembly cross-sectional area.